Nourishing Garden Green Soup

Nourishing Garden Green Soup

Winter greens are in abundance and it is the perfect time of year to enjoy warm, nourishing soups. This garden green soup is full of greens that are only lightly cooked, so they retain as much of their nutrients as possible. This soup will make the perfect winter starter or lunch and can be made using any greens you have growing in the garden.

green soup

Nourishing Garden Green Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Packed full of fresh nutritious greens from the garden, this soup is delicious served both warm and cold.

Ingredients

  • 1 medium Brown Onion
  • 2 cloves of Garlic
  • 4-5 Rainbow chard leaves
  • 10 Sweet Potato leaves
  • 2 Broccoli or Cauliflower leaves
  • 1 Sprig of Mint (10 leaves)
  • 3 Sprigs of Fennel Frond leaves
  • 2 Sprigs of Parsley (1/2 cup)
  • 2-3 Nasturtium leaves
  • 1 Tbsp Tamari (or soy sauce)
  • 1 tsp ground Cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground Cumin
  • 1/2 cup Coconut Milk
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 Tbsp Cooking Oil
  • 3/4 cup Water

Instructions

1. Finely dice the onion. Add oil to a frypan on medium-low heat and cook the onion for 10 minutes or until slightly golden.

2. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add in the cumin and cinnamon and stir to mix, cooking for a further 1 minute.

3. Add in the coconut milk, Tamari, and 3/4 cup of water. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

4. Rinse your greens and remove the stems.

5. Fill a wide bowl with cold water and ice and place it beside the stove. Place a wide pan, (or wok) on medium heat with 3-4 inches of water. Heat until the water is simmering.

6. Blanch your leaves in the simmering water and then add to the iced water to cool. This will lightly cook the leaves and help them remain bright vibrant green. Do this in stages with each type of leaf. Blanch the thicker leaves such as Rainbow chard, Broccoli, Cauliflower leaves, and Sweet Potato leaves for 45 seconds. The more delicate leaves such as Mint, Nasturtium, and fennel for 20-30seconds.

7. Strain off the green from the water.

8. Blitz up the cooled onion mixture and greens in a blender or similar (stick mixer, Nutribullet).

9. Transfer the mix to a saucepan and add salt (to taste) and reheat to serve or enjoy cold.

OPTIONAL: Top with mixed seeds (sesame, pumpkin, sunflower), edible flowers, and baby mint and nasturtium leaves. Serve with buttered Toast.

Notes

The Sweet potato and Broccoli leaves can be substituted with other garden greens you have growing in the garden such as Spinach, SilverBeet, Asian greens.

The darker the greens are in colour, the more vibrant green the soup will be.

15 Easy Organic Fertilizers to Make at Home

15 Easy Organic Fertilizers to Make at Home

Make these Easy Organic Fertilizers at home using everyday ingredients so that you can feed your plants naturally and grow lots more food! It is important to feed your plants as they use up the nutrients in the soil to grow and produce food. It is also important to use organic, natural fertilizers so that we..

1 – don’t consume harmful synthetic toxins but also..

2 – don’t have harmful toxins upsetting the microbiology and killing off all the amazing beneficial insects and pollinators. 

There are a bunch of natural ingredients you use every day that can be easily turned into natural, organic fertilizers to help feed and nourish your plants. There are also some plants that you can specifically grow to make your own organic fertilizers. Keep reading below to find out how you can level up your garden’s production with these easy organic fertilizers. 

Plus, it’s a great way to reduce waste and get the most out of everything in your home. We can be so quick to throw things out or put them straight in the compost but many items can be used again first! This also means you are getting more bang for your buck and saves you spending money on fertilizers. So you can spend more money on plants.

I use an easy dilution spray bottle for all garden fertilizers.

1. Rice Water

The water that is left behind after rice has been cooked makes an easy organic fertilizer for your plants. It contains starch and small amounts of NPK. Which are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. These are all essential for plant health and growth. In basic terms, Nitrogen is good for producing leaves and greens but if your soil is too high in Nitrogen, you will get all leaves and no actual fruit or vegetable. Phosphorus is good for cell growth and division, so it is essential for seedlings. Potassium is great for promoting fruiting and flowering in plants. Having a good balance of NPK in your soil is important. As your plants grow they will use up different levels of each so it is important to replenish with fertilizers.

The NPK in Rice water is low in quantity so you won’t have to worry about over-fertilizing and it helps you build healthy soil, whilst minimizing waste. Make sure that you don’t add salt to the water or this will not be good for your plants. It is also important to make sure the water has completely cooled down first. Use the rice water fresh as you make it as it doesn’t store well.

2. Pasta Water 

Just like the rice water, pasta water will leave behind starch, which can be used to feed your plants. Dilute the mixture if it looks too cloudy or there is not much liquid and this will give you more fertilizer and ensure you don’t overfeed.

3. Potato Water

When you have boiled potatoes, the leftover water will be full of starch and beneficial nutrients. Again, similar to the Rice and Pasta, make sure you haven’t added salt and let the water cool completely. 

4. Eggshell Water

Don’t throw out the water left over after boiling eggs. Let it cool, and use it to feed and water your plants. This is such an easy organic fertilizer! This water will add a small boost of nutrients and calcium to the soil. You can also boil leftover eggshells that have been cracked to fry eggs or have been used for baking. Then after that, crush up the eggshells and add them to the compost for extra calcium or sprinkle them around your seedlings as natural pest control to help deter slugs and snails. There are so many ways eggshells can be used to boost your garden’s health.

5. Vegetable Water

Reuse the leftover water from boiling or steaming vegetables as a natural organic fertilizer. For most vegetables that you boil or steam, the water can be used to fertilize your plants. Just be aware that some ingredients may cause strong odors so for Brassicas, Broccoli, Cauliflower, or Cabbage. Only use on outdoor plants as the water will start to have a strong odor. No one wants their house to start smelling like farts!

6. Banana Peels

Banana peels are something that many of us have at home, and they make a great natural fertilizer for your plants. As many of you might know, bananas are high in Potassium and in the plant world Potassium is an essential nutrient for plant growth. Here in Perth, our sandy soils often leach out Potassium, so it is important that we add it back in regularly. Fruiting plants can often require extra Potassium to produce good yields, improve the flavour of the fruit, and increase flower production. Potassium also helps strengthen plants – it thickens their cell walls to make them grow big and strong. I will often prioritize feeding my fruit trees when I’m making this Banana Peel Fertilizer.

There are a few different ways to make Banana Peel Fertilizer and I rotate through using them all. The easiest way by far is just to put the peel in the compost or bury the banana peel in the garden. This will slowly break down and release nutrients into the soil to feed your plants. However, there are a few ways to speed up the process of extracting the nutrients. 

Chop up your banana peel and add it to a jar of water. I leave this on my bench with a cloth over the top. You don’t want bugs to get in, but you want it to breathe. Then over the next few days, as I only eat one banana a day, I add it to the jar. You can start using this after one day, but I like to let mine go for about 3 day,s stirring it each time I add another peel. Then you can strain off the banana peels, keep them to add to the compost or bury them in the garden. Then dilute your water by 50% or more. If I just have one banana peel, I may not dilute I,t but with three, there are plenty of nutrients to be diluted and spread across more plants.

You can also chop up your banana peels and let them dry out in the sun and then blitz them up into a powder. Add this powder to water or just sprinkle it around your plants. 

7. Coffee Grounds

Used coffee grounds are great for the garden and can add a boost of nutrition to your plants while building healthy soil. Used coffee grounds ( filtered through water) are nearly pH neutral. They are rich in Nitrogen and Potassium, which are both essential nutrients. Although they are brown in colour, they are rich in Nitrogen, so coffee grounds are classed as “green” when you are composting.

There are heaps of ways to incorporate coffee grounds into your garden. You can add them straight to your compost, sprinkle them around your plants or dilute them with water for a liquid fertilizer. Coffee Grounds are also great for natural pest management and can deter lots of unwanted pests from your delicate seedlings. I have even read that coffee grounds can deter cats, so if you are having a problem with cats in your garden, this is worth a try as it only benefits the soil and the plants.

To make the liquid fertilizer from Coffee Grounds, add a cup of used coffee grounds to a bucket of water and let it sit for a day or so. Then you have a liquid fertilizer to feed your plants. If you don’t have any coffee grounds, try visiting your local barista or cafe as they often just throw away the grounds and would be happy for you to take them off their hands! A win for them, your garden, and the planet! 

8. Fish Tank Water

If you have freshwater fish tanks, ponds, or aquaponic systems, the water is a great liquid fertilizer to feed your plants. The fish poop and plant matter will be great for your garden. Don’t use saltwater tank water as this will probably kill your plants, which we don’t want.

If you have freshwater fish tanks, ponds, or aquaponic systems, the water is a great liquid fertilizer to feed your plants. The fish poop and plant matter will be great for your garden. Don’t use saltwater tank water as this will probably kill your plants, which we don’t want.

9. Wood Ash

The leftover ash from your wood fire is great to feed your garden. Use the light grey coloured ash at the bottom of your fireplace not the black chunks of coal. This one can be a little more technical for beginner gardeners so it might be best to try the other fertilizer options first. Wood ash is high in Potassium and raises the pH of your soil. So do not use it on acidic-loving plants such as Blueberries.

It’s best to add wood ash in small quantities and mix it through your gardens or compost so as to not raise the pH of your soil too much (unless this is something you are trying to achieve). Also, it is very important to note: only use wood ash from chemical-free, untreated wood. Burnt wood that is treated with chemicals will still have traces left over and that is not okay for edible plants.

10. Compost Tea

Compost tea is great if you have potted plants and don’t have room to add extra soil to top up the nutrients. To make this easy organic fertilizer, place a few handfuls of compost in a bucket of water and stir. Allow it to sit for 2- 24 hours to mix and infuse into the water. With all fertilizers, use rainwater when possible, as tap water is often treated with chemicals that can actually kill off all the good bacteria that we are trying to feed. If you only have access to tap water, you can let it sit in a bucket for a day, and a lot of the chlorine will evaporate off. Next time it’s raining, chuck a bucket out and capture some of that amazing natural water to use. It really does make a big difference!

11. Liquid Seaweed

You can buy organic seaweed concentrates to mix with water and make liquid fertilizers. This is something that I always have on hand and is the only fertilizer that I buy. But, if you live near the ocean, you can make your own! Be aware of your local rules and regulations as it is illegal to remove seaweed in some locations. Even if it has washed up on the beach. If you can source seaweed, ferment it in a bucket of water for a week or more, and brew up your own organic fertilizer. Once the water is a dark colour, it will definitely have a strong, smelly pong to it! Strain off the liquid and dilute it with more water. Add the leftover seaweed to the compost or the garden to fully break down asa slow-release fertilizer. 

12. Comfrey Tea

Comfrey is great to grow in your garden, purely to help you build good soil. The Comfrey plant contains high levels of NPK, which as we now know are essential for plant health. It also contains many other beneficial nutrients and minerals. Comfrey also provides a great cover for your soil and a habitat for beneficial insects. It also has beautiful flowers for pollinators. Because of all these great relationships, Comfrey is a top permaculture plant. If you plan on growing your own food, you may as well grow your own organic fertilizer!

Comfrey has deep roots that go deep down and draw up all the good nutrients. It produces lots of big, lush leaves, which can add great plant matter, nutrients and fibre to your soils. Sandy or clay-rich soils need lots of fibre added to either help retain moisture (sandy soils) or break up the soil and allow better drainage (clay-rich soils). Here in Perth, my soils are super sandy. I often chop and drop layers of mulch to add more fibre and help reduce the concentration of sand. Sandy soils let all the moisture and nutrients drain away and we don’t want that!

Just like the banana peels, there are multiple ways to extract the nutrients from the Comfrey plant. One way is to just “chop and drop”. That is a term I use quite a lot as it’s one of my favourite methods because so easy! It is important to have some easy methods when gardening so that you are more likely to do them regularly. To do the “chop and drop” method, simply chop the leaves off and spread them around your plants as a mulch.

The other way you can use Comfrey leaves is to bury them in the garden. This is great when you are creating new beds or replanting at the end of a season. Add a layer of Comfrey leaves under your compost or topsoil and they will break down and feed your plants. 

Another way to extract the nutrients from the Comfrey plant is to chop the leaves off and chuck them in a bucket of water to ferment. Make sure you place some sort of breathable fabric on top, otherwise, you may also breed some mosquitoes! Once they start rotting down over 1-2 weeks (yes, heads up… this will smell), give them a stir to help release the nutrients into the water. Then you can strain off the leaves – chuck them in the compost or garden and dilute your tea down to feed your plants. I use an easy Spray gun that automatically dilutes the mix.

13. Worm Tea/ Wee

Worm farms are a great way to use up excess food scraps at home and they also produce liquid fertilizer for free! It is full of amazing nutrients that your plants will LOVE! Worms are absolute powerhouses for edible gardens and an incredible asset to any home garden. Plus, you can farm your own organic fertilizers with very little effort! 

14. Poo Tea / Composted Animal Manure Fertilizer

Composted animal manure is great for feeding the garden. Don’t use fresh, raw manure as it is high in urea and will burn the roots of your small plants. Composted or aged manure is best to use in your home gardens. Ensure that it is organic manure so it doesn’t have residual pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or antibiotics from the animals. It is also important that it is composted so that any grass seeds consumed by the animal are destroyed. Otherwise, you may have lots of grasses and weeds popping up in your garden.

The composted or aged manure can be mixed into your garden beds or mixed with water to make a liquid fertilizer to spray on your gardens. To make easy organic fertilizers from manure, add a handful of aged manure into a bucket of water and allow it to mix and infuse for a day or so. Giving it a good stir every now and then. This water will then be ready to feed your plants. 

15. Weed Tea Fertilizer

Weed tea is made just like comfrey tea. It is a great way to turn pesky weeds into something that actually benefits your garden! Weeds thrive and are full of good nutrients that can be turned into easy organic fertilizers. I have a video on how to make weed tea so I will link that here. The main thing to consider when making weed tea is to kill off and destroy any of the seeds. The rotting process will damage the seeds and stop grasses from being spread around your garden. 

Click to WATCH or Read below – 15 Easy Organic Fertilizers to Make at Home

YouTube video

There are so many ways to make easy Organic Fertilizers at home to feed your plants, reduce waste and grow lots more nutritious food! Let me know what you use? Do you use any of these methods or do you have other natural fertilizers? 

EXTRA TIP: When using fertilizers in the garden, pull back the mulch to apply the fertilizer. Otherwise, the bark or mulch may absorb all the nutrients and they won’t make it to the plant’s root systems. Pull back the mulch, apply the fertilizer and wait for it to absorb into the soil before recovering with the mulch.

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Happy Gardening 

Holly 🌱

MY GARDENING ESSENTIALS //


Garden Bag: https://bit.ly/3t5zc6h

Pink Secateurs: https://bit.ly/3qytl6s

Fertiliser spray gun: https://bit.ly/366nL1t​

Retractable Hose: https://bit.ly/2TSC0Bo​

More gardening tools: https://bit.ly/32IQmbD​

DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!

How to Overwinter Chilli Pepper Plants – Two Simple Steps

How to Overwinter Chilli Pepper Plants – Two Simple Steps

Easy Steps to Overwinter Chilli Pepper Plants

Easy steps on how to overwinter your chilli and capsicum plants to have mature plants and bigger harvests for next season. If you have grown chillies, peppers or capsicums over the summer months, you may be able to overwinter them to keep for the next season. Around this time of year, in Autumn, you will notice your chilli and capsicum plants start to die off, lose their leaves or stop producing full-sized fruit. Chilli or peppers are warm-loving plants and do not like the cooler days of autumn and winter. It is around this time that aphids and other bugs will arrive and attack your plants when they are in a vulnerable state. Rather than ripping them out and starting again next season, you can prepare to overwinter your plants.

What does “Overwintering” Mean?

“Overwintering” is a term used when you prepare your plants to keep them alive/ semi-dormant through winter, and then they will be able to be planted out during the warmer spring months. Some plants are classed as annuals because they die off in cool weather, and then you need to replant them in Spring and Summer. But if you overwinter them and keep them somewhere warm, you will be able to convert them into perennials and grow more food without spending any extra money next season.

Why do you Overwinter Chilli Plants?

There are some great benefits to overwintering your plants. They already have an established root system, and this means the plant will be able to start back up again when the conditions are right and will produce quicker and in more abundance than a new young plant. This means your second-year chilli or capsicum harvests will often be earlier and much more fruitful! Which is definitely something we want!

How to Overwinter Chilli Pepper plants?

There are a few ways to overwinter your chilli and capsicum, and most of it comes down to how cold your climate is. Here in Perth, we get very little frost so I leave my plants where they are over winter. If you live in a colder climate where you get dramatic drops in temperature and frosts, then you will want to pot up your chilli and bring them into a warm spot in your patio, greenhouse or inside. I grow mine in my pallet planters, which, in winter, I move so they receive sun nearly all day. They are also in a sheltered spot close to the house and fence, so they seem to do well overwintering in situ. 

The two chilli plants I have in this planter have been here for 2 or 3 seasons and produced so many chillies this summer! 

To prepare them for winter:

1. Prune Your Plants

I cut the plants back to around 50% or about 20 cm high. This can seem brutal, but it means the plant has fewer branches to feed and can concentrate its energy on staying alive. Make your cuts at “major intersections”. This is where multiple stems shoot out from one node.

    2. Keep Them Frost Free

    If you live in a colder climate that gets frosts, then carefully dig your plants out of the garden and plant them in a pot. Keep your potted chilli plant somewhere warm and sunny until the last frost has passed in Spring before planting them back out.

    How to Prepare Overwintered Chilli Plants for Spring?

    Once spring arrives and there are no more frosty days, plant the potted Chilli plants back into a warm, full sun location. Give the plants a good feed of organic seaweed fertiliser and they will shoot off lots of new growth. It won’t take long until they will have new growth and will start producing flowers and fruit.

    If you have any questions on how to overwinter chilli pepper plants, leave me a comment below 🙂

    Happy Gardening,

    Holly 🌿

    Links included in this post might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my blog so that I can continue to provide you with free content.

    More Chilli Posts

    Urban Permaculture Garden Tour 2021

    Urban Permaculture Garden Tour 2021

    Autumn is often a slow time in my urban permaculture garden. Summer annuals are ending and the Winter seeds and seedlings are not yet up and running. There is a calmness to autumn which I love. I have filmed a new garden tour of my Urban Permaculture Gardens that you can watch below. For more garden tours and videos head over and subscribe to my YouTube Channel. That way you will get a notification each time I upload a new video (hopefully weekly!).

    Here come the Feijoas!

    Growing Feijoas here in Perth is a little piece of home that I cherish. They are the first fruit trees we planted here at our house and I have been lovingly caring for them for the past 5 years. Every year I get so excited and hope for fruit. They started producing in their 3rd year with just a couple of small fruit. The next year there was around 10 and this year there will be over 30. Hopefully now, each year there will be hundreds! Gardening definitely requires some patience, but it is so worth it in the end. I am celebrating this win!

    What are Feijoas and Why Grow Them?

    I definitely need to do a whole video on the Feijoa as they are one of my favourite fruit trees for any home garden. Feijoa or Pineapple Guava – Acca sellowiana is an evergreen fruit tree. They produce fragrant green fruit that are sweet and taste like a mix of pineapple /guava. Feijoa foliage is lush, thick, and grows quickly, which makes them a great option for a hedge or fence screening. Plus, an edible hedge is the best kind of hedge! They are also known to have fire retardant qualities so it can be a good idea to plant along with your fire-prone boundaries.

    Most feijoa plants are self-pollinating, however, having multiple trees will increase your pollination rate and produce better yields. I highly recommend choosing named varieties rather than generic seedlings as they produce much quicker and better quality fruit. You can find these at your local fruit tree nursery.

    Autumn Urban Permaculture Garden

    My summer annuals have just about all finished with just some basil and capsicums holding on. All my winter seeds and seedling are in and are starting to take off with a little bit of recent rain. This can be a slow time in the garden but I do have some cross-overs with my fruit trees and perennials to keep my food production up. The Feijoa and Hawaiian Guava are starting to ripen and the Lemons are coming through thick and fast. I also have plenty of sweet potatoes which not only provide large tubers for eating but also bucket loads of edible leaves which can be a great substitute for spinach. The banana capsicums are still producing and I have lots of herbs such as basil, parsley, rosemary, and sage. So there are still plenty of meals to be made using my homegrown ingredients.

    Edible Front Garden

    My front garden has transformed from a pumpkin patch into a cabbage patch with lots of red cabbage and brassicas. I have also interplanted with rainbow chard and flowers. It is a great space for all my larger vegetables as they take up too much real estate in the pallet planters. The front fruit trees are flourishing and I have one blood orange fruit, 3 lemonades, and a million baby limes coming through.

    urban permaculture garden
    urban permaculture garden

    Pallet Planter Boxes

    The pallet planters are where I grow most of my annuals and quick-picking greens and herbs. These are great because I can move them about to get the best sunlight during the winter months. In summer I am busy doing the opposite and giving them shade from the burning heat! My pallet planters are all mixed in with lots of brassicas, rainbow chard, edible flowers, lettuce, onion, and Asian greens. I also plant radish in between all my crops because they are ready to harvest from seed in just 28 days, so they will be ready before the main crops are overcrowded. This is a great way to maximize space in a small urban garden. Plus it’s a great way to get some quick food during a slower transition phase in the garden.

    urban permaculture garden
    urban permaculture

    It is important to take down notes at the end of a season and that way you can make improvements for the next one. I have created these seasonal gardening review sheets which have helped me establish when things fruit and where the gaps are in my food production.

    Let me know if you would like to see more regular garden tours maybe Monthly?

    Happy Gardening

    Holly 🌱

    MY GARDENING ESSENTIALS //
    Fertiliser spray gun: https://bit.ly/366nL1t
    Retractable Hose: https://bit.ly/2TSC0Bo
    More gardening tools: https://bit.ly/32IQmbD

    DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!

    Sweet Potato and White Chocolate Slice

    Sweet Potato and White Chocolate Slice

    This Sweet Potato and White Chocolate Slice is so so delicious. The sweet potato makes it fudgy and the white chocolate gives it a caramel flavour with crisp and chewy edges. Sweet Potato is such a versatile plant and can be used for both sweet and savoury dishes. This Sweet Potato and White Chocolate Slice is so delicious and doesn’t require any eggs or butter so can easily be made vegan. Being able to use your homegrown veggies for a wide variety of recipes will mean you need to buy fewer ingredients. I used purple sweet potato for this, which is super fun, but you can use which every variety you have growing.

    purple sweet potato
    purple sweet potato slice
    sweet potato slice

    Sweet Potato and White Chocolate Slice

    Prep Time: 35 minutes
    Cook Time: 40 minutes
    Additional Time: 15 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 1 Large Sweet Potato
    • 1/4 cup Brown Rice Syrup (or maple syrup or agave syrup)
    • 1/4 cup Coconut oil
    • 1/3 Brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
    • 1/2 cup Almond meal (or plain flour)
    • 1/2 tsp baking powder
    • 1/2 cup plain flour
    • 1/2 cup white chocolate buttons

    Instructions

    1. Peel and cut sweet potato into small cubes (2-3cm cube)
    2. Steam until cooked and can be pierced with a fork.
    3. Cover and allow the sweet potato to come to room temperature (separate any liquid and keep it in a bowl to the side).
    4. Preheat the oven to 180degrees Celcius
    5. In a mixing bowl mash the sweet potato add 1TSP of the cooking liquid or water.
    6. Add in the brown rice syrup, brown sugar and coconut oil. Mix to combine.
    7. Add almond meal, sifted flour, baking powder and gently mix to combine.
    8. Gently mix through most of the chocolate buttons leaving a few to add to the tray before baking.
    9. Add your mix to a greased baking tray (20cmx20 or 30cm) and then add the remaining chocolate on top.
    10. Bake for 30-40 mins until slightly golden on top.
    11. Allow to cool before serving.

    Happy Gardening, Holly 🌱

    DIY Greenhouse Built from Recycled Windows

    DIY Greenhouse Built from Recycled Windows

    Greenhouse Goals!!

    I was lucky enough to have recently been home to New Zealand to visit my parents and this new DIY greenhouse addition was so impressive! Mum built this DIY Greenhouse and She Shed from scratch using Recycled Timber Windows!!! Learning how to use tools along the way she made her dreams a reality!! I’m so proud of my mum and I can’t wait to show you this greenhouse tour! The perfect space for potting up seeds and cuttings or having a baileys in the evening.

    Watch the Full Tour

    Click the Image below.

    Creating Sanctuary

    Mum wanted to create a space to display her family heirlooms and treasured items. A quiet place for reflection when the world around gets too busy. It is rustic and cosy with a warm inviting feel. The plants in the Ladies Lounge spill down from teacups and climb the ladder to help integrate between the outside and the greenhouse, making the whole place feel as if it was always there. The greenhouse also offers a more controlled environment to grow all year round. Being able to open and close the windows can keep the heat in or let air flow through.

    diy greenhouse from recycled windows

    recycled timber studio

    From the Ground up

    First up another vegetable patch was started in a new location to allow a seamless transition and continuous supply of homegrown veggies. Then the foundations were started and went up around the old veggie patch. The windows were still being sourced and collected along the way then secured in to place. Shiplapped timber walls were constructed using the neighbours discarded timber fence and has created beautiful rustic feature walls.

    Recycled and Vintage Treasures

    The Greenhouse floors are made from pavers donated from neighbours and the ladies lounge slate flooring was gifted from a friend and had been lovely kept in her family for many years. Then came the exciting part of decorating the rooms with all the special items and decor.

    Follow your Dreams

    “Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and the thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself”. – Edmund Lee

    Inspiration is often found on the glossy pages of magazines or hoarded away in boards on Pinterest but the key to following your dreams is in the action of doing. You CAN do it. Mum shared her dreams and ideas with friends and family and they came together to offer supplies and words of encouragement. This became her driving force and she was off on a mission to bring her dreams to life. She learnt new skills, got stuck in and didn’t wait for someone to come along and do it for her. So don’t spend too much time searching for inspiration, share your ideas and just get started.

    diy greenhouse from recycled windows

    tea and pikelets

    A big thank you to all her friends and family for donating special items and supporting her with this DIY greenhouse project. It sure is an inspiring space to visit!

    Holly 🌱

    MY GARDENING ESSENTIALS //
    Fertiliser spray gun: https://bit.ly/366nL1t
    Retractable Hose: https://bit.ly/2TSC0Bo
    More gardening tools: https://bit.ly/32IQmbD

    DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!